.1 Field of the Invention
This invention relates to lubricant additives and compositions thereof and, more particularly, to liquid hydrocarbon fuel and lubricant compositions comprising fuels or oils of lubricating viscosity or greases prepared therefrom containing a minor friction reducing amount of products made by reacting together (1) substituted imidazolines, aldehydes and mercaptans or (2) the products thereof with boron compounds.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Many means have been employed to reduce overall friction in modern engines, particularly automobile engines. The primary reasons are to reduce engine wear thereby prolonging engine life and to reduce the amount of fuel consumed by the engine thereby reducing the engine's energy requirements or fuel consumption. While it is commonly understood that lubricants by definition, reduce friction between moving surfaces, friction reducing additives are agents which when added to lubricants in minor amounts significantly enhance the frictional properties of those lubricants without modifying other physical properties such as viscosity, density, pour point, and the like.
Many of the solutions to reducing fuel consumption have been strictly mechanical, as for example, setting the engines for a leaner burn or building smaller cars and smaller engines. However, considerable work has been with lubricating oils, mineral and synthetic, to enhance their friction or antioxidant properties by modifying them with friction reducing additives.
Although imidazolines have been added to lubricants for various purposes, the reaction products of this invention are, to applicants' best knowledge, novel, and they have no prior history of use in lubricating compositions as friction reducing additives or in the multifunctional additive areas of anti-corrosion, anti-wear or anti-oxidation. It is further understood that the borated derivatives of this invention possess multifunctional capabilities, i.e., anti-wear, anti-oxidation and/or bearing corrosion protection in addition to friction modification.